Decisions, decisions

Earlier this evening a friend on Facebook posted the challenge: “Favorite three TV shows of all time” —

Go.

At first glance, I thought it an easy question. Then I noticed the comments were few in number; many people had only listed one or two shows instead of the requested three.

After spending some time on the topic, now I understand why.

My first favorite was immediate and top of mind: The West Wing. From episode one until the the drama drew its last breath, I was one of its biggest fans and most vocal supporters. It’s what television — and government, for that matter — should be.

Jed Bartlet is still my president.

My second choice is more of a sentimental favorite. I wrote my television programming paper on Cheers as a freshman in college and rightly predicted that it was a comedy that had long legs.

I also watched Cheers — perhaps not with the same religious fervor as West Wing — but until its end. And it was way cool to eventually live just a few blocks from the Boston bar that served as its inspiration.

My third choice was the hardest one. I watch a lot of television, a lot of great television — House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Breaking Bad —but I decided, if I was honest, I should choose the show that turned me into a schoolgirl fanatic:

Downton Abbey

I have the DVDs. And the hardback companion. And the bound scripts. And a couple of pictures on my office bulletin board.